THE PACIFIC OCEAN, 125 
haps not find it very difficult to conjecture. It has been al- 1779. 
ready obferved, that they bear ftrong marks of affinity to t __f!LA 
fome of the Indian tribes, that inhabit the Ladrones and Ca¬ 
roline Iflands; and the fame affinity may again be traced 
amongft the Battas and the Malays. When thefe events 
happened, is not fo eafy to afcertain; it was probably not 
very lately, as they are extremely populous, and have no 
tradition of their own origin, but what is perfectly fabu¬ 
lous; whilit, on the other hand, the unadulterated flate of 
their general language, and the fimilarity which fill pre¬ 
vails in their cuftoms and manners, feem to indicate, that it 
could not have been at any very diftant period. 
The natives of. thefe iflands are, in general, above the 
middle flze, and well made; they walk very gracefully, 
run nimbly, and are capable of bearing great fatigue; 
though, upon the whole, the men are fomewhat inferior, 
in point of ftrength and activity, to the Friendly iflanders, 
and the women lefs delicately limbed than thofe of Otaheite. 
Their complexion is rather darker than that of the Otahei- 
teans, and they are not altogether fo handfome a people *. 
However, many of both fexes had fine open countenances • 
and the women, in particular, had good eyes and teeth, and 
a fweetnefs and fenflbility of look, which rendered them 
very engaging. Their hair is of a brownifh black, and 
neither uniformly flraight, like that of the Indians of Ame¬ 
rica,. nor uniformly curling, as amongft the African ne¬ 
groes, but varying, in this refpeCt, like the hair of Euro¬ 
peans. One ftriking peculiarity, in the features of every 
part of this great nation, I do not remember to have feen 
* The annexed print of a man of Sandwich Iflands , was taken from a portrait of our 
friend Kaneena. 
any 
